I was the same until my brother explained it thusly:
"It's there to stop goal hogging. If you had a player that spent the whole match loitering, alone, around the opposition goal and waiting for a long pass, it would be shit and a little gay. So they declare such players to be 'offside'. You cannot pass to them, for they are offside cunts. If the ball is passed to them, the whistle goes.

The moment an opposition player (besides the keeper) gets between the hogger and the goal, said hogger is no longer offside and the ball can be passed to him again."

Clear? Probably not. Ahh well.
( Wet-chinned bag shanker Cannot parse Wogan, Wed 30 Mar 2011, 11:39, 3 replies)

FINALLY
I get it. Cheers! It was probably everyone else talking in "Footy technical" terms.
(Sadarse works like Mist condensing mud flaps, Wed 30 Mar 2011, 13:33, closed)

me too now

( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Wed 30 Mar 2011, 13:59, closed)

Glad to be of service
My brother's good at explaining stuff like that. Taught me to fish, shoot, control a skidding car etc.
( Wet-chinned bag shanker Cannot parse Wogan, Wed 30 Mar 2011, 14:13, closed)

I wish
it were actually that simple.
(ConanTroutman thought we would free the vulture, Wed 30 Mar 2011, 15:17, closed)

I found that with that basic principle understood
the wikipedia article made a lot more sense, and cleared up all the details.
( Wet-chinned bag shanker Cannot parse Wogan, Wed 30 Mar 2011, 15:27, closed)

So what you're saying is...
Allies can't camp the Axis flag room and then sneak in when the defender is respawning, unless there's another Axis player nearer the entrance?
(gordonjcp, Wed 30 Mar 2011, 16:05, closed)

Precisely.
Also, no rockets.
( Wet-chinned bag shanker Cannot parse Wogan, Wed 30 Mar 2011, 16:40, closed)